Healthcare reform policies make it more important than ever to integrate your services with products your patients need. This means using retail marketing strategies so patients choose your business over traditional retailers with long rows of shelves offering every kind of healthcare product imaginable. Effective retailing requires implementing a variety of tactics to get the attention of your buyer so you help them take care of pressing healthcare needs while encouraging customer loyalty.

Merchandising

The way you merchandise your healthcare products is key to selling more while also helping people find the items they need. Provide information on signs placed next to the products to explain their use and benefits while drawing a shopper’s attention to the items. Include manufacturer brochures and promotional coupons near the products, too. Make your displays and shelves visually appealing by highlighting new healthcare products to educate shoppers about what’s available. Using colors in your displays that enhance, and not distract from displays, is also key. For instance, HomeCare Magazine says blue and green work well for home health care products.

Grouping Items

Help shoppers find solutions to their healthcare needs by grouping items on shelves and in displays. For instance, keep all items related to controlling blood sugar on one shelf that’s clearly identified with signs. Include test strips, glucose tablets, A1C tests and meters. Include add-on items in your displays, such as if you promote netty pots to keep colds and flu at bay, add other helpful items such as Vitamin C and cold medicine to help people make the best choice for their needs while introducing them to products they may not know anything about.

Screenings and Shots

Offering free screenings provides value to shoppers while giving you a way to help them choose products to take better care of themselves. Offer free blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar tests along with body mass index screenings to engage people in educating themselves about healthcare issues. Train your staff to offer solutions related to your healthcare business when shoppers have questions about the results of their tests. Offer flu shots for a nominal fee. Once they receive their shots, hand them a coupon for use in your retail area so they spend time looking around.

Add Interactivity

Put display models of healthcare products, such as walkers, canes and blood pressure meters, out for people to test so they feel more confident buying. Make sure batteries are charged so the units work at all times. Add a small media center containing a computer with Internet access so shoppers without a Smartphone can access information to aid them in making healthcare purchases. Place a computer near your free screening area, and download the widget for Myhealthfinder, offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Myhealthfinder helps shoppers figure out what preventive services they need based on their age, sex and pregnancy status.

About the Author

Nancy Wagner is a marketing strategist and speaker who started writing in 1998. She writes business plans for startups and established companies and teaches marketing and promotional tactics at local workshops. Wagner's business and marketing articles have appeared in "Home Business Journal," "Nation’s Business," "Emerging Business" and "The Mortgage Press," among others. She holds a B.S. from Eastern Illinois University.